article in the cornish gaurdian yesterday >

HUNDREDS of residents fear that one of Padstow's beauty spots could be ruined if a controversial planning application gets the go-ahead.

A proposal has been submitted to Cornwall Council to install a surface water outfall pipe with trenching works at Booby's Bay, near St Merryn.

The application has been submitted by multi-millionaire entrepreneur Simon Nixon, the founder of moneysupermarket.com.

In 2009 planning permission was granted for a three-storey house at Little Polgarron, which includes a lower floor consisting of bedrooms and a leisure wing, which will be sunk underground. Since then site investigation work has shown that the high water table on the site could put the property at risk of flooding so the applicant has been forced to submit a second application for the proposed outfall.

Outrage

The pipe would run from the property to cliffs overlooking the beach at Booby's Bay – and has caused outrage among residents. Already more than 200 letters of objection have been sent to the council and a group has been set up on the social networking site Facebook called 'Booby's Bay drainage application', which already has more than 1,000 members.

People are concerned that the pipe would not only damage the surrounding area but the contents could also affect the beach and the water quality.

Brothers John and Benjie Eldridge and Nathan Bennetts started the Facebook page, Benjie said: "The main reasons for us objecting so heavily is because recently Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty have come under attack from developers in the area and we can't let this continue.

"The people want to protect our coastline and it is a valuable asset to both the our community and economy, and should not under any circumstances be vandalised by development.

"The application states 'surface water' but does not state the meaning of surface water and to what depth it refers to. Digging down past the water table, adding sewage and household drainage is not surface water.

"We believe a proper environmental investigation is required to determine the effects of lowering the water table. This should have been done by the architects before planning was applied for. We believe the application has tried to avoid the public eye by misleading them with the information supplied."

Noon Projects, on behalf on Mr Nixon, released a statement saying: "This proposed outfall is to redirect the naturally occurring groundwater only and to balance out the seasonal variations that occur to the levels of this water within the development area of the site.

"All water discharged from the property, including toilets, showers, sinks and the natural water swimming pool, will run through our onsite treatment plant before finally passing through an ultraviolet treatment chamber. From here the water is allowed to discharge into the ground through a designed soakaway. The efficiency of the proposed treatment plant and the final standard of water discharged from the ultraviolet chamber will exceed current environmental standards and is of a higher quality than most developments."